Vice Admiral William Bligh, FRS, RN (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) is an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator.

A notorious mutiny occurs during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men make a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers.

Fifteen years after the Bounty mutiny, he is appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia, with orders to clean up the corrupt rum trade of the New South Wales Corps, resulting in the so-called Rum Rebellion.